Saturday, March 12, 2011

Winter Term Report Card 2010-2011

To the Great Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

School is now out for Spring Break after a nasty winter.  Probably no one was more relieved to see the term end than members of the Admissions Office which mailed decisions to 2,200 applicants, another record number, on Thursday. 

The addition of ten international squash courts overlooking the Lower Level in 2008 succeeded in attracting a better crop of squash players than would have been possible and is paying big dividends on the distaff side.  The Girls Varsity team won the New England Championships this year as might be expected after finishing second in the country earlier this term.  Boys Swimming, another standout, suffered its only loss to Andover before winning the Western New England Championships.  Boys and Girls Alpine Skiing finished first in every event this winter.  The more traditional sports (Basketball, Hockey and Wrestling) had disappointing results which may say more about the perceived recruiting needs of college admissions offices than anything. 

Class News

The news this term is that I took the plunge and became the 500 millionth member of Facebook, long after the Academy set up its own page.  Since I registered, another 100 million have joined, and six Facebook shareholders have been added to the Forbes 400.  If you've seen the Social Network, you have a sense for the history of the Facebook phenomenon.  To date, we have 36 members of the Class on our Facebook site and, if you would like to join us, please let me know.  Judging solely by the quantum of friends, Hank Louis is far and away Mr. Popularity in the Class with 550 friends at last count.  Rounding out the top three are Brogan Thomsen and Peter Bernstein.  For those disinclined to join Facebook, I set up an alternate site on Google called, of all things, Albany Road Redux.  All you need to do in order to access the site is to e-mail me and set up a Gmail address.  The purpose of the Google site is to address privacy concerns that some have with Facebook and to serve as a repository of information about the Class. 

As any reader knows, Christian Liipfert retired from BP a year ago.  What you don't know is that he has been back at BP doing some consulting in the "information governance space" which comprises records management, document management, enterprise content management, knowledge management, e-discovery management/preparedness and similar M words, all tracking back to how/why corporations need to manage their proprietary information as an asset.  On a personal note, he and his wife Pam went to Hong Kong over Thanksgiving week to visit their daughter.

Marty Kaiser, the editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as well as a converted cheesehead from Winnetka, heralded the Packers' return to the Super Bowl last month with a "Packers Blitz" which included special sections, columns, merchandising, and special offers to capitalize on the Green Bay Packers NFC win and Super Bowl appearance.  Marty was quoted as saying, “The Journal Sentinel is renowned and beloved for our Packers coverage. Packer fans worldwide will find everything they need to know about all aspects of the game.”

In late January, the Count Basie Theatre celebrated the completion of a $2 million restoration to its historic façade at a reception attended by 75 supporters of the theatre. Rusty Young, CEO of the Count Basie Theatre Foundation, spoke at the event and acknowledged major donors to the theatre’s restoration fund.

King Carter continues to oppose the construction of a wind farm in Maine, although it seems at times he is tilting at windmills.  The company behind the project recently made an aesthetic concession to reduce the visual impact of the windmills on the Appalachian Trail and the Bigelow Preserve but, from what I've read, not enough to appease King.

Jack Spitznagel has surfaced after a period away and is now in medical affairs at a regenerative medicine biotech company.  When last spotted, Jack was on the faculty at York College of Pennsylvania in the Biology Department.

Best wishes to all.

DWS